What’s Next for Boretec Equipment?

Bill Malcolm is well-known in the world of auger boring and horizontal directional drilling (HDD) as an inventor and innovator – much of which came to fruition out of necessity. 

Following graduation from college, Malcolm followed his father’s path and entered the contracting world, finding his niche in horizontal boring. Because he was on the West Coast, almost all his equipment was shop-built as opposed to purchased from a manufacturer. This included his boring machines and cutting heads. 

A key component of Malcolm’s design language – and one that served him well as he grew his contracting company in California – is designing equipment that is easy to mobilize, fast and reliable onsite and, most importantly, meets the demands of the project.

“I actually started in the horizontal boring field right out of college, and worked in it until 2005,” Macolm says. “In 2005, I tried to retire, but that didn’t work for very long. I started doing a little research and development and patented several of the things we had done while we were in the boring business.”

It was through this R&D work that Boretec Equipment was born. One of the first pieces of equipment he patented – the On-Target Steering (OTS) System – was picked up by Dave Gasmovic at McLaughlin Group and carried through with the McLaughlin line when it was acquired by Vermeer.

Malcolm was also integral in designing and prototyping McLaughlin’s Workhorse Series of large diameter auger boring machines, which took advantage of boring with higher horsepower rather than torque. 

Acquiring the McLaughlin Line 

With a strong connection with the McLaughlin product line, the next steps in the evolution of Boretec Equipment came as no surprise. After moving the company from California to a large facility in Inman, South Carolina, Malcolm put the wheels in motion to make a big purchase. 

At the end of 2023, Boretec Equipment acquired full control of the McLaughlin auger boring product line from Vermeer Corp. This includes the OTS System, horizontal and mining augers, pit launch directional drills, cutting heads, auger boring machine service parts and support rights. The purchase did not include McLaughlin’s locating, piercing or vacuum excavation equipment. 

The equipment is now being manufactured and updated by Boretec Equipment and is marketed under the McLaughlin by Boretec name.

“I am not ready to stop. That’s really what it amounts to,” Malcolm says. He adds that though he couldn’t convince Gasmovic to join him full-time, he’s happy to have him onboard in an outside sales role. “Dave [Gasmovic] is the one who made McLaughlin grow. He knows a lot of people. It was natural to pull in that side to make Boretec work,” Malcolm says. 

Gasmovic was most recently the business development manager for Vermeer MV Solutions. Prior to Vermeer’s acquisition of McLaughlin Group Inc. in 2017, Gasmovic served as McLaughlin Group’s president and CEO.

Poised for Resurgence 

“I’ve done this all my life, so I am invested in the auger boring equipment and OTS Systems. I think it’s a segment of the market that gets overlooked a lot by HDD and microtunneling after that. But it’s an important segment,” Gasmovic says. “You’ve seen a resurgence in it [auger boring] in the last few years as people have realized the limits of directional drilling.”

He adds that auger boring is also now more accurate with the advent of the pilot tube systems and the OTS systems.  “We are able to guide the auger bore and make sure it comes out where we want it,” he says. 

What is Boretec Equipment’s near-term checklist? After nine months of ramp up, inventory control and other facility upgrades, Malcolm says new products are on the horizon. 

Boretec’s Next Steps

Initially the offerings will be updated and improved designs on existing McLaughlin machinery and cutting heads, but he says a new steering system is in its final phases and is being prepped for launch in 2025. 

Without going into detail, Malcolm says it will be integrated into the control station and linked to the Boretec App that will be accessible both online and via Bluetooth. This will help the crews in the field and help people in the office track the work. 

“We’re trying to modernize the equipment to make it better. Traditionally, this has been hard work. We’re trying to figure out ways to make it not quite as hard,” Malcolm says. “Our goal is to come up with better processes and pieces of equipment to make this work more efficient and easier on everybody.”

This is important as Malcolm, like Gasmovic, see the horizontal boring sector is poised for growth after a lull as the industry turned more towards HDD work. But now with demand increasing to replace failing infrastructure, as well as install new infrastructure, he is seeing a resurgence in auger boring. 

An updated McLaughlin machine was launched in November, there’s plans for an updated 24-in. machine and following that an update to the pit-launched HDDs.  

“We are grateful for McLaughlin’s and Vermeer’s contribution to the lifecycle of these products,” says Malcolm. “These relationships, along with over 100 years of combined experience in the field, have helped us better realize what our customers want and need.”   

Mike Kezdi is managing editor of Trenchless Technology.